Libyan Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalghem made a bid for giving Libya a permanent seat on the UN Security Council in a speech to the General Assembly Wednesday, contending that Libya's role as one of the wealthiest nations in Africa, its abandonment of the WMD program, and the prestige of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi all weighed in the proposal's favor. Shalghem also argued that before the UN could be truly reformed, certain key powers had to be transferred from the Council to the Assembly. Libya joins other countries calling Security Council reform; see JURIST's Paper Chase for more. A digest of Shalghem's remarks is included in the offical UN General Assembly press release here.

In other international law news...

Australian Federal Police have arrested more than 150 individuals charged with child pornography offenses. The police stated that the arrests included teachers, police officers, child care center workers and even former and current members of state parliament. Justice Minister Chris Ellison said that over 2000 charges would be brought against the cumulative defendants, culminating an investigation that began in March and netted over 2 million images, the largest operation in Australian history. The Australian has more. Read the official Australian Federal Police press release here [PDF].

Sudanese officials have charged 28 people in an alleged coup plot to overthrow the government. The individuals have been charged with declaring war on the state, planning to assasinate political leaders, and tampering with communications lines. The Sudanese government claims the plotters are allied with the rebel forces in the Darfur region. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the Darfur situation here. Reuters has more.

Human Rights groups Amnesty International and Germany's Pro-Asyl have levied heavy criticism against a new EU proposal on joint European refugee control. German Interior Minister Otto Schily authored the EU plan to set up refugee camps in northern African nations, such as Libya and Tunisia, to process refugees before the reach Europe. The NGOs contend that these countries have no history of human rights compliance themselves and their treatment of refugees turned away by the camps would violate the European Convention on Human Rights. European ministers and officials have defended the plan by pointing to the large human and financial cost that comes from refugees attempting to reach Europe outside of normal travel routines. Deutsche-Welle has more.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.